W.H. Wang and X.Q. Chen: Design of Low-Cost Unmanned Underwater Vehicle For Shallow Waters
W.H. Wang and X.Q. Chen: Design of Low-Cost Unmanned Underwater Vehicle For Shallow Waters
3, 2009
A. Marburg
Geospatial Research Centre (NZ) Ltd,
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have received worldwide attention and been
widely used in various applications. In this paper, a recently developed low cost UUV prototype
at the University of Canterbury is introduced, which is designed specifically for shallow water
tasks, especially for inspecting and cleaning sea chests of ships for bio-security purpose. The
main hull of the UUV is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with a 400 mm diameter and
800 mm length. External frames mount two horizontal propellers, four vertical thrusters and
power is derived from onboard batteries. The maximum thrust force of up to 10 kg that is
provided by the propellers can generate a forward/backward speed of up to 1.4 m/s for the 112 kg
UUV. The vertical thrusters provide depth control with a max thrust force of 20 kg. The UUV is
equipped with a range of sensors capable of sensing its instantaneous temperature, depth, attitude
and surrounding environment. Costing less than US$10,000 for a prototype, it provides an
excellent platform for further underwater vehicle development targeting shallow water tasks with
a working depth up to 20m.
Keywords: unmanned underwater vehicle; UUV; low cost; hull design; shallow water
inspection.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Wang, W.H., Chen, X.Q., Marburg, A.,
Chase, J.G. and Hann, C.E. (2009) ‘Design of low-cost unmanned underwater vehicle for shallow
waters’, Int. J. Advanced Mechatronic Systems, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp.194–202.
Biographical notes: Dr. Wenhui Wang is Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering Department. His
research areas include computer vision, micromanipulation, bio-device and instrumentations,
visual servo control, and manufacturing process monitoring. He has published over 35 peer
viewed conference and journal papers, holds three US patents, and is on the Editorial Board of
three journals in mechatronics.
Dr. Xiao Qi Chen is Associate Professor with Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
of Canterbury, and the Director for the Mechatronics Engineering Programme. He has published
over 100 refereed journal and conference papers and is Associate Editor for several known
international journals.
Mr. Aaron Marburg is a Research Scientist at the Geospatial Research Centre NZ. He is
interested in innovative techniques for scientific sampling including autonomous vehicles and
wireless sensor networks.
and embedded systems. He has published over 320 refereed journal and conference papers and is
an inventor on over ten patents. He is on the Editorial Board of three journals in
bio-engineering and medicine.
Dr Christopher E. Hann is a Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellow and Senior Research
Associate. His research areas include computational and physiological modelling for biomedical
systems, model-based diagnostic and therapeutics for critical care, physiological parameter
identification and the application of image processing and computer vision in Biomedicine.
He has published over 115 refereed journal and conference papers, is an inventor on several
patents and is on the Editorial Board for an Open Bentham journal in medical informatics.
1 low cost so that it is affordable for mass deployment for • operating temperature ranges
shallow water tasks no deeper than 20m
• structural integrity for additions and tapings
2 slightly positive buoyancy so that it does not sink to the
• impact conditions
sea/water bed when power runs off
• water permeability
3 compact structure for easy on-site maintenance and
trouble shooting • visual appeal and aesthetics
4 extendable space for carrying payload to inspect and • accessibility
clean the sea chests
• versatility
5 manual or autonomous navigation at a cruise speed of
~1 m/s. • practicality
To meet the specifications, this paper presents a low cost • restrictions for future additions
UUV prototype emphasising the unique design issues and • size requirements
solutions developed for this task, as well as those attributes
that are generalisable to similar systems. Control and • corrosion and chemical resistance.
navigation are being implemented and are thus not covered The foremost design decision is the shape of the hull.
here. Inspired by torpedoes and submarines, a cylindrical hull has
been selected. A cylinder has favourable geometry for both
pressure (no obvious stress concentrations) and dynamic
2 Hull design reasons (minimum drag). To make the hull, three easily
Figure 2 shows the UUV prototype (weighing 112 kg, accessible materials were compared. The first option is to
positively buoyant), which consists of basic components, use a section of highly available PVC storm water pipe. The
including main hull, two horizontal propellers, four vertical second option involves having a hull made from a
thrusters, two batteries, an external frame and electronics composite material, such as carbon fibre or fibre glass.
inside the main hull. This section focuses on the hull design. Mandrel spinning of such a hull will allow more freedom in
radial dimensions. The process can in fact incorporate a
Figure 2 The hull structure of the vehicle, (a) top view (b) side varying radius along the length resulting in a slender,
view (c) isometric view (d) real picture of the traditional hull. However, this process requires a large
in-house made vehicle (see online version for colours) amount of design and set up time. A less desirable third
option is to use a section of metal pipe, which is prone to
corrosion and has a high weight and cost. As a result, the
PVC storm water pipe option was selected.
Two caps were designed to complete the hull, and are
attached to each end of the pipe such that they reliably seal
the hull. The caps also allow access to the interior for easy
repair and maintenance in the field.
The end cap design incorporates an aluminium ring that
is permanently fixed to the hull and a removable aluminium
plug. The plug fits snugly into the aluminium ring. Sealing
is achieved with commercially available O-rings. Sealing
directly to the PVC hull would have been more desirable,
however this option was not taken for two main reasons.
First, PVC does not provide a sealing surface as smooth and
even as aluminium and is extremely hard to machine in this
case due to the size of the pipe. Second, the PVC pipe is not
perfectly round and subject to significant variability, which
would have made any machined aluminium cap subject to
Note: (a)–(c) design drawings of the vehicle.
poor fit and potential leakage, decreasing reliability.
There are a number of different ways in which hull design The design choices made can thus better manage these
can be approached (Allmendinger, 1990). These different issues. More specifically, the design is based on self-sealing
design methods are typically specific to the situation/task. where greater outside pressures enforce greater connection
The main hull must be able to meet a number of key between the cap, seals and PVC hull portion. The O-ring
challenges. seal employed is made of nitrile, which is resistant to both
Aspects that must be considered during hull design fresh and salt water.
include:
• pressure and/or depth required
Design of low-cost unmanned underwater vehicle for shallow waters 197
design, the hull is made of a PVC pipe with an outer Finally, each concept has its own advantages and
diameter of 400 mm and a length of 800 mm. The required disadvantages. Comparisons are summarised in Table 1. In
working depth is 20m. Hence, the ballast system selected this design, the major driving factors for the selection of
not only has to meet the basic requirements enumerated ballast system are the cost and reliability. Piston ballast tank
above, but must also be able to fit in the hull. Preferably, all and thruster systems are reliable since these two depth
are at a relatively low cost. control methods have been widely employed in most UUV
First, installing two 160 mm inner diameter ballast tanks development. Considering the cost, the thruster system is
of 250 mm length provides a net force of ±5 kg. more effective. Hence, the thruster system is chosen as the
Additionally, the force required to actuate the piston head at final design.
20m is calculated to be approximately 6,000N. To generate
such force on the piston head, a powerful linear actuator is Table 1 Ballast comparison
needed. The specific linear actuator (LA36 24V DC input,
Diving Installation Bouyancy
6,800N max load, 250 mm stoke length) can be sourced tech
from Linak Ltd. in New Zealand. However, the linear
actuator has a duty cycle of 20% at max, which means that Piston ballast Static Internal +ve, –ve,
tanks neutral
for every 20s continuous work, it must remain off for 80s
before operating again, allowing the UUV to float Hydraulic Static Internal +ve, –ve,
pumping system neutral
uncontrolled. In addition, the cost of one linear actuator is
US$1,036, which would imply that similar actuators with Air compressor Static Internal +ve, –ve,
neutral
longer duty cycles would cost a larger amount at this time.
Taking the second option, a hydraulic pumping system Thrusters Dynamic External +ve
can be customised from Scarlett Hydraulics Ltd, Overall
Sealing Reliability
New Zealand. The overall system has dimensions of cost (US$)†
500 mm × 250 mm × 250 mm. It consists of a 1.2 KW DC Piston ballast Difficult Used in most 2,500
motor, a pump, a 4L hydraulic fluid tank, two dual solenoid tanks remote
valves and two cylindrical tanks. This system meets the submarines
required specifications, but has some drawbacks. In Hydraulic Difficult Not reliable 2,710
particular, it occupies too internal space of the hull and pumping system
weighs approximately 20 kg (a significant addition of Air compressor Difficult Air on board is 420
weight). In this case, the overall hydraulic pumping system limited,
will cost up to approximately US$2,264. compressed air
The third option air compressor system is cost effective hard to handle
and is easy to operate by controlling the vent and blow Thrusters None Used in most 500
valves. However, the lack of accuracy in controlling UUVs with big
compressed gas is a major disadvantage. In addition, size
performance and operating time are limited by the amount Note: †The cost is estimated as an overall system.
of stored gas. In this design, a 10L tank would be needed to
There are four thrusters vertically mounted around the UUV
fulfil the changes in buoyancy. In other words, a gas
with one at each corner (see Figure 2). Mounting four
cylinder containing 10L of air compressed to at least three
thrusters produces a total of 20 kg thrust force at full load
bars is required for a single diving and rising cycle. Hence,
and allows a wide range of motion control. They enable the
to refill the gas cylinder, the UUV must float to the waters
control of not only the vertical up and down motion, but
surface before all the air runs out or risk being lost.
pitch and roll motions. To achieve this control, each thruster
Regarding the on-site requirement, that the UUV should
is connected to a speed control module that can be
operate for hours, the air tank must either be much bigger or
controlled via a central microprocessor. By inputting
far more highly pressurise, which leads to safety issues.
different digital signals, various forces thus speeds are
The fourth option thrusters are different from the
generated. Therefore, desired motion control can be
previous three systems that all had to be installed inside the
obtained by different combinations. For example, two of the
UUV. In contrast, thrusters can be attached externally.
four vertically mounted thrusters on the same side of the
Hence, sealing is not as critical as it is for the other
vehicle can be turned on to achieve roll motion. Likely, two
concepts. If the vehicle is trimmed positively buoyant, it is
of the four vertically mounted thrusters on the same end
also reasonably fail-safe, unlike the other three methods.
(near the front or end cap) of the vehicle can be turned on to
Additionally, the thrusters can be sourced from Pu Tuo Hai
achieve pitch motion.
Qiang Ltd., Zhou Shan, China for US$55/unit, a reduction
of 12–20 times in cost if two are used. Each thruster fits in a
215 mm × 215 mm × 80 mm box and is driven by a 12V DC
motor with a max thrust force of 5 kg under water. By
mounting the desired number of thrusters, a wide range of
motions can be controlled, such as pitch and roll control.
Design of low-cost unmanned underwater vehicle for shallow waters 199
5 Electronics and control power than either of the prior two options, it provides
immense processing power, memory and a diverse range of
5.1 Power supply peripherals. It is therefore chosen in this initial design for
For long term operation, this design must locate the power the following primary reasons:
supply on-board, unlike many current models that receive • added power requirements were not an issue since we
power over an umbilical link (Chardard and Copros, 2002). have a sizeable power supplies
Since all the systems onboard the UUV are electric, sealed
lead acid batteries are chosen for the power supply. These • processing power is more than adequate for this initial
batteries have high capacity and can deliver higher currents, design and future developments
than other types of rechargeable battery (Schubak and Scott,
• large volumes of memory are available, both volatile
1995; Bradley et al., 2001). They are stable, inexpensive,
for program execution and solid state for storage of
mechanically robust and can work in any orientation, all of
gathered data
which are important considerations in a vehicle of this type.
To supply enough current for the entire machine several • despite not having direct access to sensors and control
batteries have to be joined together. Instead of adding dead units, a diverse range of peripherals available can be
weight to achieve neutral buoyancy extra batteries can be used, including Universal Serial Bus (USB), RS232 and
added as needed so that the total operating time of the UUV Ethernet, enabling a potentially greater range of sensors
is higher than that required for a given application. and sensor platforms for developing broad ranges of
It is also highly desirable to locate the battery specific applications
compartments separate from the main hull so that they can
• a USB module is already provided for a webcam for
be interchanged in the field without opening the sealed main
initial image sensing applications and an Ethernet
hull. To accommodate this requirement two tubes are fitted
module is provided for remote connection.
below the hull to house batteries. Within these tubes the
batteries are connected to two bus bars. Each battery is Figure 5 On board computer (see online version for colours)
fused prior to connecting to the bus bar, and the bars are
isolated to the greatest extent possible to increase safety.
These bus bars are then wired into the main hull, where a
waterproof socket enables the quick interchange of battery
compartments. A similar bus system exists inside the hull
with connections to motors and electronic power supplies.
Each of these internal connections is similarly fused. Longer
term, it would be desirable to intelligently monitor the bus
to track the state of each battery and overall power
consumption.
• the UUV position in the three principal axes: yaw, pitch Mandeno Electronics for US$121. This sensor measures up
and roll to twice the depth required and outputs an analogue output
between 0 mV and 100 mV. Thermocouples from Farnell
• visual or digital image feedback via a webcam.
Electronics (Christchurch, New Zealand) are used to
Submersible pressure sensors that are salt water tolerant and measure the water temperature and provide an analogue
can measure up to the pressures required are difficult to output relative to the temperature difference between the
acquire at low cost. The sensor chosen was sourced from two ends of the thermocouple.
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